A 12-year-old boy told yesterday how his addiction to solvents almost cost him his life.

Jordan Edwards "buzzed" or sniffed deodorants regularly for six months before he collapsed at home and was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack.

Solvent abuse claims more childrens' lives than drugs and Jordan said he regularly sniffed with children as young as eleven.

After a sniffing session his horrified mother found him collapsed on the living room floor of his home in Kenton, Newcastle, gasping for breath and barely able to speak. She called an ambulance and he was taken to accident and emergency.

The youngster was tested for heart and lung problems and eventually confessed he had sprayed three cans three cans of deodorants into the back of his throat after pals got him hooked.

He described how he smuggled cans of solvents into school in the sleeves of their fleeces and jumpers before sniffing them between lessons. The Kenton School pupil said: "Loads of kids do it. It happens all the time.

"My mates were doing it, so I joined in but I got scared after I collapsed and the doctor says it can kill you.

"I'd tell other kids not to do it but I know I wouldn't have listened to them. It's really hard not to get involved if all your mates are at it."

He says he buzzed on deodorants most days after starting at Kenton.

Jordan suffered from shakes, headaches and mood swings for three weeks after he stopped abusing solvents.

But after his collapse his horrified mother Joanne, 28, confronted the parents of other children he sniffed aerosols with.

The family claim Jordan has been assaulted after blowing the whistle on solvent abuse leaving him too scared to leave his house in Colgrove Place, North Kenton.

She said: "I've been out of my mind with worry with the glue sniffing and then the bullying. I've had to go on anti-depressants.

"Jordan has totally changed from a happy youngster who loves football to a shy and introverted teenager who only really feels safe in his bedroom.

"He's missing out on school but I can't force him to go when he doesn't feel safe.

"I want other parents to read Jordan's story so they don't go through what our family has had to."

His mother Joanne, 28, who has three other children, has twice caught him trying to take an overdose of paracetamol .

She has now applied to the council to have the family re-housed in Gateshead to get Jordan away from the solvent abuse culture.

Kenton head David Pearmain said: "No headteacher can say categorically that no child has ever abused a solvent in their school but I would know if this was a widespread problem at Kenton.

"Our teachers are very aware of the problems and behaviour that abuse of solvents or illegal drugs cause, they are vigilant in reporting anything of this nature, we take these issues very seriously.

"If a student says he has been abusing solvents in the corridors he may have done but if so he is a certainly a very isolated and untypical case."

A recent study by Childline and the National Children's Bureau revealed more teenagers die from abusing solvents than from illegal drugs. The helpline received more than 350 calls about solvent abuse between 1999 and 2004.

They are calling for more awareness of the kind of everyday products including hairspray, nail varnish and lighter fuel, which children can abuse in this way.

Norman Titus of Childline North-East said: "This very sad story illustrates we must all be more aware of sub stance misuse.

"Young people often seem to become involved with solvent abuse through peer pressure and it is very difficult to know they are involved until the problem escalates, as in this case, and they need medical attention."

According to charity Re-Solv, the North-East has the highest death rate nationally from solvent abuse over the last ten years.